Drafting instrument



April 22, 1952 B. MENDES DRAFTING INSTRUMENT Filed Oct. 6, 1947 INVENTORATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 22, 1952 Bram Menace, NewRochelle, N. Y.Application October 6, 1947, Serial No. 778,252

It is among the objects of this invention to provide a combinationdrafting instrument especially for use by school children or amateurdraftsmen, which combines-the functions of a beam compass, T-square andruler, yet-which is inexpensive in cost, small in size, light in weightand rugged in construction, requiring but little skill in themanipulation thereof and which readily canbe adapted for use for any ofits intended purposes without the need for tools or complicatedadjustments.

According to the invention, these objects are accomplished by thearrangement and combination of elements hereinafter described and moreparticularly recited in the claims;

In the accompanying drawings in which are shown one or more of variouspossible embodiments of the several features of the invention,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the drafting instrument,

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view on a larger scale, taken alongline 2-2 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view, taken along line 3-3 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 2, taken along line 4-4-of Fig, 1, andg I Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 with the bracket pivoted 180degrees.

Referring now to the drawings, the device comprises a beam or ruler llpreferably having a plurality of longitudinal slots I2 therethroughequally spaced from each other and extending nearly the entire lengththereof.

Aflixed to the underside of the beam I! at each end thereof as by screwsl3, are blocks M and I5, respective1y, which serve to space the beamfrom the surface on which it is to be used.

A rectangular cross bar l6, of greater thickness than that of blocks l4and I5, is detachably aflixed to one of said blocks, illustrativelyblock M, by means of a tongue l1 unitary with said block and extendinglaterally therefrom which fits in a corresponding groove or recess i8 inthe side I9 of the cross bar. A set screw 29 threaded into acorresponding opening 2! in the cross bar engages said tongue as at 2|,rigidly to retain the cross bar [6 at right angles to the beam H to forma T-square.

A carriage, which in the embodiment herein comprises a slide member 22,is mounted on the beam so as to be slidably movable thereon, thedepending sides 23 of the slide member strad dling the longitudinaledges ll of the beam and being bent thereunder as at 2 3. The slide mem-'2 Claims. (Cl. 33-26) in Fig. 4.

her which is substantially U-shaped is preferably of resilient materialsuch 'as spring sheet metal and the cross piece thereof which liestransversely across the upper face of said beam is bowed as at 25 sothat the sides 23 there-of resiliently grip the edges I l' of the beamsecurely to retain the carriage in any desired location on the beam II.

The carriage is provided with a plurality of openings 26' thereinaligned with the longitudinal slots l2 in the beam. Each opening isprovided with a holder 26" which frictionally retains a markinginstrument 2'! such as a pencil or pen, inserted in said holder for thepurpose, hereinafter set forth.

. A substantially U-shaped bracket 28 having arms 29 which straddle thesides 30 of meat said aforementioned blocks, illustratively block 15, ispivotally mounted thereon by transverse pivot pin 28'. The bracket onthe exposed underface of its cross piece 3| joining the arms 29, has acentering point or' pivot 32 otherwise affixed thereon, which serves asthe center of an are or circle when the device is used as a compass.

' Thearms 29 of thebracket are of such length that the bracket may bepivoted degrees from the position in which the device is used as a compass, as shown in Fig. 5, to the position shown In this latter positionpivot 32 extends upwardly and so does not interfere with the stablesupport of the device upon the surface on which it is used. In orderthat the bracket may be rigidly aifixed in either of the above twopositions, detents are provided in the form of embossments 34,preferably two in number, on the inner face of each of the arms 29. Theembossments, which are equidistant from the pivot pin 28' around whichthe bracket is rotated, coact with corresponding depressions 35, one oneach side 30 of block l5 and one on each edge ll of beam H both when thebracket is in com-pass position, as in Fig. 5, and when it is pivoted180 degrees therefrom to idle position as in Fig. 4.

As the T-square attachment or cross bar it can readily be removed fromthe beam I l, the drafting instrument may conveniently be carried in asmall carrying case. If it is desired to draw several parallel linessimultaneously, a marking device 21 may be inserted into each of theholders 26' and through the corresponding opening 26 in slide member 22and the longitudinal slot [2 in the beam II, and then by sliding theslide member 22 along the beam, which is placed over the surface to bemarked, such parallel lines may conveniently be drawn. The position onbeam ll of slide member 22 may be adjusted by merely pressing on thebowed portion thereof, thereby spreading the sides 23 so that they nolonger grip the edges ll of beam II and thus permitting free movement ofthe slide member, the sides 23 re-gripping the beam upon manual releaseof the bowed portion 25.

For use of the device as a beam compass, the U-shaped bracket 28 ispivoted so that the center point 32 thereof may press against thesurface to be marked. With apencil inserted in one of the holders 26' ofsaid slide member, the beam 'may be rotated about its axis or centerpoint 32 alone, and for this purpose appropriate scale markings, asshown, are along the edge or edges thereof.

It is thus seen that, the invention affords a neat, compact and highlyeflicient multi-purpose or combination drafting instrument, especiallyuseful for school children or amateur draftsmen, which may quickly beset for any of its intended functions,.and which is especially compactfor storage when the T-square head is removed.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and manyapparently different embodiments of this invention could be made withoutdeparting from the scope of the claims, it is intended that all mattercontained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawingsshall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense. 7

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A drafting instrument for inscribing lines on a surface, saidinstrument comprising a beam having a plurality of longitudinal slotstherethrough extending nearly the entire length there-- of, a pair ofblocks respectively affixed on the underside of said beam at each endthereof to space said beam from such surface, a carriage slidablymounted on said beam, said carriage having means for removable supportof a plurality of inscribing devices to extend through said longitudinalslotsrespectively and contact such surface, a substantially U-shapedbracket having a center point thereon, the arms of said bracketstraddling one of said blocks and said beam and being pivotally afiixedthereto so as to be movable through an arc of degrees whereby when saidbracket is rotated about its pivot to bring said center pointintocontact with such surface, said beam may be rotated about saidcenter point and a cross bar removably afilxed to one of said blocks atright angles to said beam.

2. The combination set forth on claim 1 in which said 'arms each haveembossments on the inner face, ,thereof which coact with correspondingdepressions on said one block and said beam rigidly to hold said bracketin its extreme positions of rotation.

BRAM MENDESS,

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis" patent:

tiNrrED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 390,403 Sanborn Oct. 2, 1888392,143 Wright Oct. 30, 1888 734,014 Traut July 21, 1903 750,221 ReisJan. 19, 1904 776,897, Ferris Dec. 6, 1904 903,648- Wiles Nov. 10, 1908964,785 Johnson July 19, 1910 1,021,692 McAnelly Mar. 26, 1912 1,100,878Higgins et al. June 23, 1914 1,402,629 Manley Jan. 3,1922

1,996,876 McDowell Apr. 9, 1935 2,045,360 Kaufmann June 23, 1936 FOREIGNPATENTS Number Country Date 64,314 Norway Jan. 12, 1942 500,362

France Dec. 15, 1919

